Thomson Reuters has made the decision to shutter its Firm Central law practice management software. The company will discontinue support for the software after September 30, 2024. This information came to light through a notice posted this week by the company, indicating its departure from this software sector. Further details can be found via Thomson Reuters’ official statement.
The origins of Firm Central trace back to 2013, when Thomson Reuters launched it at a media event from its then-headquarters in Eagan, Minnesota. It aimed to stand out from an increasingly crowded market of cloud-based practice management software, including products like Clio, which made its debut in 2008, and LexisNexis Firm Manager, which was launched in 2011 and eventually discontinued in 2017.
Firm Central sought to differentiate itself from competitors by integrating with Westlaw and Microsoft Outlook. However, the platform never gained as much traction in the market as anticipated and was primarily used as an add-on benefit to sell Westlaw to smaller law firms.
In its recent notice, Thomson Reuters attributed the shutdown to the challenging reality of a saturated marketplace with many competitors being sustained by private equity funding. Further explanation is available in the notice.
Concurring with the shutdown, Thomson Reuters is recommending Clio as its preferred transition partner. This move indicates a cordial relationship between both companies, aiming for a seamless transition for their clients.
Users of Firm Central can extract their own data using Firm Central’s export functionality before the aforementioned sunset date. Thomson Reuters has created a user guide to assist with this process.
An alternative option for law firms seeking a transition is Universal Migrator, a data migration tool specializing in legal sector transitions. Additional information can be found in a recent article on this migration tool.
Clio is offering three months free to firms that transition from Firm Central, with a promise of migration specialists to facilitate the transition. More details can be found on the Clio website.